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Dark Hope
by Lendren Starfall
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Cast (in order of appearance)

Maura ............................. a dark-skinned, haunted young woman
Ling ............................................ an athletic young man
Lisha ............................................. a savvy young woman
Leopold ..................... an aristocratic fae of the Court of Night
Marielle .................................. a troubled young changeling
Tildeman ....................................... a punctilious guardian
The Faceless Man ..................... a mysterious, threatening figure

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Produced in association with the Seeds of Change Repertory Company.

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Act I: A Greater Calling
Scene 1: Why Us?
Scene 2: Finding The Scent
Act II: Children Are The Future
Scene 1: Innocence of Youth
Scene 2: But What Will It Cost?
Act III: Sinking Into Darkness
Scene 1: Sight Without Seeing
Scene 2: Forgetting And Remembering

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Act II: Children Are The Future
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Scene 1: Innocence of Youth
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SCENE MariellesRoom: This room would be of a cozy size for a single young girl,
but since it has two beds shoved into it, and the accoutrements of two girls, it
feels positively cramped. Pale yellow paint peels from the adobe walls, and the
furniture, once of a pale-grained wood, has turned so honeyed gold in hue it
threatens to disappear into the faded paint of the walls. On one side, a number
of crudely-sketched, but charming, sketches hang on the walls; the other side
has only a few sketches, these of a decidedly darker tone.

ROLE Marielle (F): Marielle

COSTUME MarielleCostume (Marielle): Not more than eight years old, this young
girl has an air of despondence about her, a cloud of futility and depression.
Her hair is pale blonde and has been put up into pigtails; this, combined with
her almost inhumanly cute face and her speckled print dress festooned with
daisies, strive to make her seem like an adorably innocent young girl. Somehow,
though, a glum attitude, common amongst some orphans, holds her innocence
hostage and makes her seem only frightened, weak, and dispirited.

Marielle: ENTER SILENT

EFFECT A2S1Q1 (6): The curtains lower, concealing the scurrying of stagehands,
then rise to reveal a cramped bedroom overfull of furniture, clearly belonging
to two young girls. The left bed, unoccupied, is the center of an area adorned
with crude but cheerful sketches. To the right, a small girl sits on the other
bed; behind her, only a few sketches, of a decidedly darker tone, have been
hung. The three teenagers stand awkwardly across from the girl.

Maura, to Marielle: We're visiting to help out in the orphanage.

Marielle: (in a flat voice) But why me?

Lisha: (speaking quickly to head off Maura answering) Not just you, all the
orphans. Why, do you need something particular?

Ling: holds a bandage to his arm, wincing as he waits for the potions and salves
to mend the deep damage.

Marielle: (with a shrug) No.

Maura: You seem troubled, sweetheart. What's wrong?

Marielle: shrugs and makes no answer.

Maura: frowns.

PAUSE

Lisha: Well, umm, I suppose we should go on to visit the other children.

Marielle: (disinterestedly) All right.

Maura, to Lisha: (in a whisper) We need to find an excuse to stay with her.

Ling: (in an almost-too-loud whisper) We told Tildeman we were volunteering to
help the whole orphanage.

Maura: I know, but we can't spread ourselves out too thin.

Lisha: turns back to face Marielle, eyes narrowing in thought.

Ling: It might be good to go around the whole orphanage. Look like we're
helping everyone but really patrolling.

Maura: (dubiously) I suppose.

Lisha, to Marielle: (stepping back towards the girl) What happened to your
roommate?

Marielle: (glancing at the other bunk) Sleeping in another room.

Lisha: (moving closer) Why is that, dear?

Marielle: Said I kept her awake.

Maura: looks over at Lisha curiously.

Lisha: Why would you do that?

Ling: begins to patrol the edge of the room, peeling away his blood-soaked
bandages to reveal pink, healing flesh beneath.

Marielle: Bad dreams.

Maura: turns sharply to stare at the girl.

Lisha: (tentatively setting a hand on the girl's shoulder) What kind of dreams?

Marielle: (in an emotionless monotone) My mother. She hid me under the bed when
they came for her. I had to stay quiet while they hurt her over me and she
died. At least in my dream.

Maura: shudders, eyes half-closed as she imagines this morbid scenario.

Lisha: (frowning in concern) In your dream?

Marielle: Yeah, Tildeman told me that's not what really happened. My real
mother died giving birth to me.

Ling: applies more salve to his healing flesh, causing it to become healthier.

Lisha: (after a moment's thought) We can help you figure out why you have these
dreams so you can be free of them. Will you let us?

Marielle: (with a dismissive shrug) Whatever.

Lisha: (casting a significant glance to Maura) We'll just have to explain to
Tildeman why we need to spend more time with you to help you with this, first.

Ling: Here's your chance. He's calling us.

Marielle: EXIT SILENT

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Scene 2: But What Will It Cost?
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SCENE Office: A fairly spacious office, this room nevertheless looks crowded due
to the piles of parchment and ledgers, bins full of everything from toys to
bandages, and other forms of clutter, such as children's paintings decorating
the walls. All this profusion of brick-a-brack is neatly aligned into rows and
stacks, oddly symmetrical, which only slightly eases the sense of excess. A
large desk is ringed by chairs, the one behind it only slightly larger than the
three in front of it.

ROLE Tildeman (M): Tildeman

COSTUME TildemanCostume (Tildeman): An elderly man of indeterminate age, this
fellow conveys an air of strictness and severity in everything: his clothes and
hair, his expression, his clothes, his posture, even the way he moves. His
tailored suit is a shade of white barely tinged with sunny yellow, trimmed in
cerulean, a combination of colors that might look wan on many people, but which
suits his bronzed complexion and speckled blond hair. His pale blue eyes are
piercing, and his expression suggests that he brooks no nonsense.

Tildeman: ENTER SILENT

EFFECT A2S2Q1 (6): The curtains lower, concealing the scurrying of stagehands,
then rise to reveal a spacious, cluttered, and exhaustively organized office.
Bins full of the supplies an orphanage needs are neatly lined up under
children's paintings, while furniture, yellowed with age and sun, sits in
perfectly symmetrical lines in the room's center. A severe, older man sits on
one side of a large desk, while the three teenagers sit uneasily on the other
side.

Lisha, to Tildeman: So, sir, while we still want to volunteer to help out the
whole orphanage, we wanted to especially focus on one particular girl... what
was her name?

Maura: Marielle.

Lisha: (feigning having forgotten) Right, Marielle. See, I've been studying
mental traumas and dreams, and...

Tildeman: (waving his hand in a peremptory fashion) Nevermind that. You can do
as you like. I have just received word that I have been relieved of my duties
here.

Maura: (surprised) Relieved of your duties? There's to be a new caretaker?

Tildeman: (briskly) I don't know. I just know that my obligations are concluded
and I have no further business here.

Lisha: (sputtering) But... who will tend to the children?

Tildeman: Perhaps you. It's not my concern anymore.

Ling: That seems mighty cavalier. Don't you care?

Tildeman: I fulfill those duties to which I am bound by contract and debt, and
those duties call me away. If you'll excuse me, I have some belongings to
gather.

Maura: (rising and moving dazedly across the office away from the desk) This
seems wrong.

Ling: (joining her) Well, it makes our work easier, doesn't it?

Tildeman: busies himself making a neatly organized bundle of papers, ignoring
the teens.

Lisha: Contracts... Remember what the old man said. He must be the sun fae who
made her forget, and now wards her against discovery.

Maura: (dubiously) He doesn't look fae.

Lisha: Neither does Marielle. He's under a glamour, but look at him, for a
human could he look any more sunny? And see how rigidly organized his office
is. And he's bound by bargains and favors owed.

Ling: So why is he leaving now?

Maura: (turning back to Tildeman) We need to find out.

Lisha, to Maura: Be careful, if he is sun fae, bargaining with him is tricky.

Maura, to Tildeman: Pardon me, sir, why is it you are called away particularly
today?

Tildeman: I told you, I am released from my assignment here.

Maura: Released by whom?

Tildeman: (pausing to look appraisingly at Maura) I suppose if you really must
know, we can come to some agreement. I will answer that question for you,
truthfully, if you will answer one for me, truthfully.

Maura: (decisively) Done.

Lisha: (giving Maura a warning nudge) Careful! Bargains with sun fae always
cost more than they seem!

Tildeman: (after considering Maura a few moments) What are the dreams which
haunt you?

Maura: (taken aback by the question a moment) Hounds catching my scent... and a
man with no face, coming for me. He wants to steal my wings.

Ling: stares at Maura, surprised by her tale.

Tildeman: nods knowingly.

Maura: But my mother comes, it must be my mother because she looks like me, and
saves me. I have to give up my wings to be safe, and she helps me do that.

Tildeman: (nodding shrewdly) Very well. I owe a term of service to my clan
prelate for my promotion to the seventh rank. She, in turn, owes a favor for
concealing a certain indiscretion on the part of one of the eleventh ascent. I
do not know what his debt is, save that it is to one of a different affiliation.

Lisha, to Maura: (in an urgent whisper) A different Court!

Tildeman: And each of these favors has been called in turn, resulting in my
immediate release from my duty here.

Maura: Then you have no new assignment or responsibility.

Tildeman: Why must you give up your wings?

Maura: blinks uncomprehendingly.

Tildeman: Another question for another question.

Maura: (slowly nodding) Oh... oh yes. To keep the secret that I have wings.

Tildeman: (satisfied) no, I have no immediate obligations.

Maura: Then if we made a bargain with you to resume your work here for three
more days...

Lisha: (nudging Maura in the ribs) Maura!

Maura, to Lisha: (in a whisper) I know, but if he's the one whose wards are
what's keeping Marielle safe, we need him. Maybe this is what leads to her
being discovered.

Ling, to Maura: (whispering urgently) But the bargain will cost more than it
seems!

Maura: So what? What do I have to lose, anyway?

Tildeman: (patiently waiting for this exchange to conclude) Yes, I could be
persuaded to continue my efforts in exchange for a favor. At some future date,
I will ask you a question, and you will use all your resources to find a
complete, truthful answer. Agreed?

Lisha: That could be anything!

Maura: So? What resources could I have other than going to the library?

Ling: He knows more than you do.

Maura, to Tildeman: (ignoring Ling) Agreed.

Tildeman: Done. Feel free to spend as much time with Marielle as you wish. If
there is nothing else?

Ling, to Maura: This was a bad idea.

Maura, to Tildeman: (returning towards the doorway) No, thank you.

Lisha, to Maura: (following her out, along with Ling) It will come back to haunt
you. No one bargains with the Court of Sun without regretting it.

Tildeman: EXIT SILENT

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